President Trump’s tariff plan for a 25 percent charge on all imports from Mexico and Canada has been on then off for weeks. The tariffs are currently paused until April 2 as negotiations continue among the three nations.
However, in early March, after one deadline and before a pause, the tariffs were officially in place for March 4-6, so importers must arrange to pay them.
Dante Galeazzi, president and CEO of the Texas International?Produce Association (TIPA) BB #:162361, said March 18 that it has been a confusing time, as many TIPA members imported fruits and vegetables those three days and are required to pay for or account for the tariffs within 10 days of importing product.
“It’s caused a lot of challenges,” he said. “Folks here haven’t paid tariffs on Mexican products in 30 years, so there’s not much institutional knowledge.”
TIPA has held webinars with customs attorneys and has communicated back and forth with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection on how the valuation system works, for instance, he said.
“[CBP] has been great at helping and answering questions, which is a great sign,” Galeazzi said.
At this point, he said TIPA members are preparing for the April 2 deadline for the tariffs to resume, and they have many concerns.
Galeazzi also said Trump’s “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” calls for reciprocity with all U.S. trading partners, meaning any tariffs and fees that the U.S. pays to other nations will be in effect for their products coming into the United States.
Galeazzi said the U.S. considers value-added taxes (VATs) to be tariffs, and many Latin American countries have those on U.S. product.
For the produce industry, this means any fruits and vegetables imported from countries with a VAT will get a similar fee here.
This would apply to avocados from Colombia and melons from Guatemala and bananas from Costa Rica, for example.
“At this moment, there are no exceptions for any item,” he said.
TIPA has members who are customs brokers, and Galeazzi said they have been helpful in finding answers to questions that deal with the nuances of the tariffs, such as repacking, valuations, and what may be deductible from the process.
“Right now, our priority is understanding this system as well as possible,” he said. “The devil is in the details.”
Galeazzi said once the tariffs go into place April 2, consumers will not likely see any effects until a few weeks, and then there could be higher retail prices on imported produce and possible shortages.
“Long-term, the implications are hard to say,” he said. “Volumes could change” as importers make business decisions.
Trump has said the tariffs are designed to help U.S. exporters get better deals and encourage more domestic production.
When it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables, many observers have said increasing domestic production on some items, such as bananas or avocados, is simply impossible due to land, irrigation, labor and/or weather restrictions.
Produce industry leaders would like fruits and vegetables to be dealt with differently than manufactured products with respect to tariffs.
“I would love to see fresh produce exemptions, but we’ve seen nothing so far that indicates it,” Galeazzi said.
President Trump’s tariff plan for a 25 percent charge on all imports from Mexico and Canada has been on then off for weeks. The tariffs are currently paused until April 2 as negotiations continue among the three nations.
However, in early March, after one deadline and before a pause, the tariffs were officially in place for March 4-6, so importers must arrange to pay them.
Dante Galeazzi, president and CEO of the Texas International?Produce Association (TIPA) BB #:162361, said March 18 that it has been a confusing time, as many TIPA members imported fruits and vegetables those three days and are required to pay for or account for the tariffs within 10 days of importing product.
“It’s caused a lot of challenges,” he said. “Folks here haven’t paid tariffs on Mexican products in 30 years, so there’s not much institutional knowledge.”
TIPA has held webinars with customs attorneys and has communicated back and forth with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection on how the valuation system works, for instance, he said.
“[CBP] has been great at helping and answering questions, which is a great sign,” Galeazzi said.
At this point, he said TIPA members are preparing for the April 2 deadline for the tariffs to resume, and they have many concerns.
Galeazzi also said Trump’s “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” calls for reciprocity with all U.S. trading partners, meaning any tariffs and fees that the U.S. pays to other nations will be in effect for their products coming into the United States.
Galeazzi said the U.S. considers value-added taxes (VATs) to be tariffs, and many Latin American countries have those on U.S. product.
For the produce industry, this means any fruits and vegetables imported from countries with a VAT will get a similar fee here.
This would apply to avocados from Colombia and melons from Guatemala and bananas from Costa Rica, for example.
“At this moment, there are no exceptions for any item,” he said.
TIPA has members who are customs brokers, and Galeazzi said they have been helpful in finding answers to questions that deal with the nuances of the tariffs, such as repacking, valuations, and what may be deductible from the process.
“Right now, our priority is understanding this system as well as possible,” he said. “The devil is in the details.”
Galeazzi said once the tariffs go into place April 2, consumers will not likely see any effects until a few weeks, and then there could be higher retail prices on imported produce and possible shortages.
“Long-term, the implications are hard to say,” he said. “Volumes could change” as importers make business decisions.
Trump has said the tariffs are designed to help U.S. exporters get better deals and encourage more domestic production.
When it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables, many observers have said increasing domestic production on some items, such as bananas or avocados, is simply impossible due to land, irrigation, labor and/or weather restrictions.
Produce industry leaders would like fruits and vegetables to be dealt with differently than manufactured products with respect to tariffs.
“I would love to see fresh produce exemptions, but we’ve seen nothing so far that indicates it,” Galeazzi said.
